I started using LaTeX after I adopted Emacs as my default text editor. This was my research path: info -> Texinfo -> LaTeX -> XeLaTeX.

Now I use the swiss-knife Memoir class for nearly everything and I have understood the importance of beautiful typesetting.

Worth reading:

http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/memdesign (the memoir manual of style)

The Elements of Typographic Style, Robert Bringhurst (the bible)